The Birth of Super Sonic
by DC111
Summary: After being attacked viciously by the Chaos-powered E-99, Sonic is deposited into the sea and thought dead. The gems they sought in order to return to their own world are becoming the downfall of this one. Is all hope lost? Sonic X Episode 26 adaptation.


SUMMARY: After being attacked viciously by the Chaos-powered E-99, Sonic is deposited into the sea and thought dead. The gems they sought in order to return to their own world… have become the downfall of this one. Is all hope lost? Sonic X Episode 26 adaptation.

This is a one-shot based on the grand finale of Sonic X's first season. I'm not sure what I'm after with this one aside from capturing an intense, epic fight scene – but don't we all want that? I don't know, something about that episode was just riveting to me and I wanted to capture that and build on it. The dialogue is based somewhat on the Japanese version, but I've got my own twists too of course. ;)

Enjoy.

xxx

"I… I am so sorry."

Knuckles spoke the words to the atmosphere, wishing somehow that the wind would carry them to everyone affected by this disaster as he clutched the railing of the helicopter, large fists trembling in rage and regret.

He had aimed for the most efficient, quick and peaceful way to get himself and his comrades back to the world they belonged in, so that he could return to the Master Emerald. But his intentions had been turned against him. How could he have trusted Eggman? After the sheer number of times he had been fooled in the past… How could he have not realized that the scientist was never going to change?

His stubborn, narrow-minded devotion to the Master Emerald had been his downfall once again. They had been so close, so torturously close to being able to return to their home world. Only one Chaos Emerald had still been missing. If he had only held onto the ones he had… Sonic still would have had to fight Eggman for the remaining ones, but it would be on even ground.

As it was, the blue blur would be up against impossible odds: Eggman and his six Chaos Emeralds. And he would have no handicap, no help whatsoever. Unless the last Chaos Emerald was found. But Knuckles wasn't about to put his hopes into such a notion. He hadn't the slightest idea of its whereabouts, and even if he did… it was still only one.

_Sonic… You can't do it alone, Sonic. Wait for me. For your own sake, wait for me. I should be the one taking on Eggman for what I've done. Even if it kills me._

But even as he put all his willpower and desperate hope into the thought, even as he despised himself for being so naïve and thoughtless, even as he prayed to whatever forces were out there for a second chance – a second chance he had compassionately granted Eggman so many times…

…He knew Sonic would not wait.

Xxx

Sonic could see the final Chaos Emerald in Lucky's uncertain hands. A robotic claw was quickly descending from the Egg Fort II to retrieve it, within a foot of it now. Sonic was still hundreds of feet away, the magical gem's vibrant glow a mere twinkle in the distance.

_Plenty of time._

The blue blur gained ground quickly, the occurrence at hand growing larger in his vision. At the last second he curled over, letting his momentum carry him into a spin, and smashed the claw to bits. A grin was on his face from start to finish.

"As if I'd let you prevail," he muttered as Lucky the robot went flying behind him, somehow managing to keep his grip on the white gem. "Maybe you have the other six… but I won't let you have this Chaos Emerald."

"Still the same," Eggman said exasperatedly over the loudspeaker, "always getting in my way! E-77, do not give it to him!"

The peculiar-looking robot, with its bell-shaped body and numerous good luck symbols tacked on like afterthoughts, happily ignored the demand. It had both hands outstretched towards Sonic with the Emerald settled in its palms. Sensing the robot's non-confrontational nature, the hedgehog was standing there unthreateningly with the cocky grin still in place, reaching out to take it.

That was, naturally, when an enormous robotic beetle came out of nowhere with the apparent aim to crush them both. Hedgehog and robot alike scrambled out of the way, the latter with the Chaos Emerald still in tow.

"Think you're fast, do ya?" Sonic asked, glancing up at the Egg Fort II while raising an arm to shield himself from the chunks of ground that were suddenly raining down all over the place.

"I…" Eggman began, sounding oddly unsure of himself, "I don't know where that came from. That's not mine."

Something about the doctor's words rung true. "The military…" Sonic said to himself, turning to face the massive beetle. More were proceeding forward to join it; there was a _wall _of the things. "Jeez. I don't need their help, they'll just get in the way."

Another voice came over a loudspeaker now, making the hedgehog desperately want to pin his ears to his head with paperclips. "We are commencing an attack on Eggman's mecha. If you can hear this, you are in the path of danger and must move to a safe area." The man's voice quieted slightly and Sonic knew the next words were directed at him: "But we don't have to worry about you, do we?"

"No, but I'm not the only—!" Sonic began quickly, but the giant machines were already rolling forward like tanks towards the Egg Fort II, having no further regard for his words. "_HEY!" _He ran around to block them, planting himself in the line of fire. "You gotta wait a second! Chris is still inside there!"

The cannons fired.

Xxx

The Tornado jolted violently.

The sudden movement was a result of Tails jumping in fright and jerking the plane's controls in the process, which in turn was a result of Amy shrieking directly in his ear just to make sure he heard her.

"Was that—was that Sonic I just saw get caught in that!"

"No," the fox said quickly, reaching up to massage the inside of his ear with two fingertips. "There was nobody down there."

"Are you sure? I could have sworn…"

"Positive," he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. He couldn't afford for Amy to freak out now. For all he knew she would try to jump out of the plane and get herself involved… He had no reason to put it beyond her, considering she had done so before…

But he had seen it too, and Amy's sudden terror had only confirmed it: Sonic had been right in the middle of that blast.

"Where is he, then? He's got to be somewhere nearby! We've got to find him, Tails!"

"Amy, please settle down!" Cream said. "I'm sure Sonic is okay!"

From the girl's lap, Cheese contributed a nervous "Chao!" and looked up at Amy desperately.

In a voice that had lost considerable volume but none of its determination, Amy repeated, "We've got to find him."

Xxx

Sonic threw himself to the ground, digging his fingers into the dirt. Beams skimmed over his quills and back, singing some of the fur there. He closed his eyes, flattening himself as much as he could as he felt the intensity of the heat against his skin.

_Well, this hurts a bit._

As soon as there was a break in the attack, he rolled over and got to his feet, hastily scattering out of the way. He had to find a way to free Chris before allowing E-99 to be attacked any further. Whirring around, he laid eyes on the flying fortress just in time to see the attack that had just missed him strike hard on the thing. There was a blinding flash…

"_Chris!_"

Then the light faded, revealing the Egg Fort II still in perfect condition. Relief flooded through him, but something else trickled in with it, too. He was worried. He would have to fight this thing one way or another, and if those powerful attacks hadn't left a mark…

"_FIRE!_" Eggman's infuriated voice came over the loudspeaker. Missiles came out of slots in the machine Sonic hadn't previously noticed, all of them headed towards the military beetles. And he was still in the line of attack. Realizing he was completely out of his element, he ran for slightly safer ground, trying to think of what to do as chaotic insanity ensued behind him.

The Chaos Emerald. He had to get the last Chaos Emerald.

_Lucky, where are you, you odd little robot…_

Sonic looked around urgently, dodging the occasional stray missile, and finally spotted him. The robot was running for its life too – more a result of common sense than luck, Sonic thought to himself – wailing frantically in its high-pitched mechanical voice.

"Hey, you! Wait!" Sonic chased after him, but the ground was a mess of debris from the recent assaults and he couldn't gather speed. He made a mental note to just _grab _the damn gem next time he had a chance instead of waiting around for it to be handed to him.

"This one's for you, Sonic," he heard Eggman say over the speaker, and made the mistake of spinning around to see. Long before he could regain momentum to get away, a white-hot beam of energy – like concentrated fire – struck the ground vertically, encompassing Sonic in the resulting explosion.

Luckily for him, he was near enough to the Chaos Emerald to draw upon its power, creating a momentary shield around himself at the last possible second. His quills blew outward from the sheer force of the explosion, but he stood unharmed as the fire and chaos surrounded him.

When the smoke cleared, Lucky was soaring through the air due to the windy backlash of the blast. Following its own momentum, the robot turned around and fled, appearing to have had enough experience with explosives for a lifetime. The Egg Fort II shot after it at remarkable speeds despite its size, and Eggman shouted, "First priority is getting that Chaos Emerald!"

Sonic growled under his breath, giving chase. "As if I'd let you!"

What remained of the military beetles were changing forms and ascending into the air, refusing to let Eggman get what he wanted any more than Sonic would. The hedgehog, for his part, shook his head. "You guys _totally _copied Eggman with those machines, didn't you? I can't decide what I'm more bothered by, him for creating it or you for… Hey, wait a minute."

One of the beetles was flying low enough to the ground for him to reach. Not hesitating, he flung himself towards it, grasping something on the side and pulling himself on top of it. "Nice ride, guys!"

"_What in the world are you doing?_"

"Watch me and see for yourself!" Smirking, Sonic launched himself off the machine's cannon like it was a ramp, spreading his arms, legs and quills to slow his flight at the right moment, and landed on another beetle. Without even having to ascertain his balance, he accelerated along the beetle's smooth surface towards the next cannon. It was pointed at an even higher angle than the last, aiming right for the Egg Fort II.

But that wasn't what the blue blur was after.

Purposely speeding up a little too much, Sonic once again soared off the cannon, ascending hundreds of feet into the air and over Eggman's fortress (more than a little aware of the fact that his trajectory was fated straight toward the ocean). There was Lucky, as he had known, clutching the Chaos Emerald with a horrified expression on its face. In midair, Sonic took the robot in his arms, ascertaining that he would not get separated from the Emerald again. Looking scared and miserable, Lucky held the gem out to him, moaning something incomprehensible.

"What? Don't worry so much, little guy," Sonic said as they fell. "It's just that this Chaos Emerald is very important to me. Would you give it to me?"

Lucky stared up at him, awestruck for some reason. He wanted to tell it to just hurry up and hand it to him already so he didn't have to snatch it away like an ass – not to mention the water was coming up to meet them more quickly than he had anticipated – but finally, after a moment that seemed to drag on forever, Lucky dropped the Chaos Emerald into Sonic's hand.

Then, unexpectedly, he rotated around in Sonic's grasp and began to flutter its tiny wings, slowing their descent.

"Haha, I didn't know you could fly! How _lucky!_"

Xxx

In the main control room of the Egg Fort II, Eggman glowered.

"Awfully unlucky to be turned against by luck!" Decoe said helpfully.

"Unforgivable!" Eggman roared. "Decoe… Bocoe… to your positions. We will show them the true power of this machine!"

Xxx

Lucky deposited Sonic on a blacktop surface near the city's harbor and landed nervously next to him. "Thanks, man," the hedgehog said, giving him a two-fingered salute. The robot waddled as it turned to face him, gazing at him peculiarly for a moment. Sonic groaned nervously. "Er, you should get yourself out of here, fella. If past experience is anything to go by…" he paused as Lucky turned again, this time facing the water they had just flown over, and its eyes grew wide with horror.

Before them was a robot so massive it could have crushed buildings with a step. The body of the Egg Fort II sat on metallic foundational legs the size of skyscrapers. Its tough exterior shined like silver. Its fists were clenched and Sonic was sure that any unfortunate object caught between those hands would be crushed to nothing but crumbs.

It was the largest robot Sonic had ever seen.

"…If past experience is anything to go by," he said again, and didn't elaborate, letting the sentence linger meaningfully.

The thing hovered mysteriously over the water for a second, as if letting them absorb the sight in all its sinister glory. "Are you scared?" Eggman asked smugly. "This, my dear hedgehog, is the revised, ultimate form of the Egg Fort II, also known as Egg Emperor."

"Er, that's not the in-thing now," Sonic informed him, hands on his hips, just before the massive robot landed with an equally massive splash in the water. He closed his eyes as a rush of it hit him in the face. He waited for the ocean to settle, tapping a foot and never changing his stance as stared the robot down. "Did you do that on purpose?" he asked, grinning. "I will admit you're pretty big, even for me. But I'm pretty fast, even for _you! _Let's see if you can catch up with my speed."

And doing what he did best, Sonic began to run, zigzagging back and forth along the pavement at hundreds of miles per hour. "Come on, now!" he taunted, dashing all over the place, luring Eggman and his robot toward solid land.

Xxx

"E-99, take notice of those military beetles coming in at your right. Obliterate them, will you? They're only getting in the way of everything."

"What?" Chris breathed. "Eggman, there are people in there!"

The doctor took pause for a moment, looking like he had been unaware of this information. But it was too late. Before he could even draw breath to retract the command, five beetles exploded in a fiery mess, debris descending with flaming tails.

"…Well, they should have known what they signed up for," Eggman said awkwardly after a moment. "E-99, pursue Sonic! These military jokes will know better than to interfere anymore."

"_No!_" Chris cried. "Please stop this, Eggman!"

For the first time in several minutes, Eggman turned to Chris. "Hey kid, it's time for me to show you and Sonic something great. Do you know what this is?" While saying, the maniacal scientist pressed a button, making a panel appear in the front of the control room near the window. Sitting comfortably in six individual spaces were the Chaos Emeralds he had received from Knuckles only a night ago.

Chris gave the desired response, gasping and exclaiming, "Chaos Emeralds!" in a panicked voice.

"Yes, dear boy, that is correct. The same Chaos Emeralds you helped Knuckles deliver to me, no less! Right now, I'm going to set all of these one by one into E-99. Let's see what comes of it, shall we?"

One Chaos Emerald descended further into the pocket. Immediately, small speakers near the screen on the control panel began to beep furiously. Red crosshairs were scrambling about the screen, seeking a target. Something – a rush of color too fast for the eye to see – began to appear in higher quality animation.

The second Chaos Emerald was connected to the machine. Almost instantaneously there was a different beeping sound than the scattered ones from moments ago. This one sounded positive; confirming. And indeed, Sonic was in clear focus on the screen, smiling as he ran, completely unaware of the real danger he was suddenly in…

Chris watched on in horror as the remaining gems were set into the panel, feeling hopelessness settle in his stomach. This couldn't be happening… all six Chaos Emeralds… there was just no _way_.

"Sonic…" he whispered quietly, voice quivering, "this is my fault… You're my friend; what have I done?"

He felt the workings of the robot vibrate against the wall Eggman's robots had pinned him to. It was moving… it was drawing back a hand, about to strike…

"_SONIC!_"

Xxx

The blue hero leapt to meet Eggman's attack, following the robot's path with his eyes, calculating how far he would dodge and whether or not he would be able to wedge himself in for a counterattack.

Then his good luck plummeted as the robot snapped out of view, using Chaos Control to reappear behind him. Long before he could turn his head to see where it went, its fist struck him in the side, following through and sending him skidding down the road.

Knowing better than to resist his own movement, Sonic rolled in the direction he had been smacked in, saving himself a few scrapes. When he finally came to a stop he pushed himself up to a semi-standing position, hands on his spread knees and head hanging as he caught his breath. "Not bad," he said after a moment, looking up at the Egg Emperor with a grin.

Xxx

"Tails, if you don't do something to help Sonic right now I swear I will go down there and…"

"It's too dangerous!" the fox interrupted desperately, already having finished her sentence in his head. "Didn't you see all those military beetles get obliterated in one blow?"

"Yes! And didn't you see _Sonic _take a blow just like that! We have to help him, Tails! Can't you get in close and give him a ring or something?"

"I… I can't! If the X-Tornado was powered by a Chaos Emerald, we could make as many rings as we needed, but we don't have a Chaos Emerald!" he sighed loudly, nervously. "I don't even know if a ring would help him now, not against the power of six Chaos Emeralds… he has to get out of there!"

"Can't we fly in close and try to get him?" Amy asked, looking on the verge of tears.

"That's what I'm doing," Tails answered decisively, swerving the plane expertly between beetles and buildings. "_Sonic!_" he called, flying parallel to both the road and his hedgehog friend, who was moving at a slow jog compared to his normal pace. "Sonic, let's—Hey, are you okay?" His tone changed as he completely absorbed the sight of the blue blur. Some of his fur was singed, he was bleeding in a few places, and he looked plain tired. "What can we do to help?"

"Get yourself to safety, that's what," Sonic called to him, trying to keep the impatience and the pain out of his voice. "E-99'll destroy you!"

Amy crossed her arms at his words. "Hmph! As if you're somehow more able to withstand its attacks than we are?"

Of course, this was the point in time where the Egg Emperor teleported again, ruthlessly punching Sonic with the power of six Chaos Emeralds and narrowly missing the X-Tornado in the process. Tails swerved hard just in time to see the blue blur crash through the windows of a building and come out the other side, only to be stopped with a jarring crack against the stone of the building behind it.

Amy didn't even cry out in terror. Somehow her silence was worse to Tails than a scream would have been. There was no way Sonic had survived that blow.

As the three friends approached the building where they knew he would be, waiting for the dust to clear, a quiet but humorous answer to Amy's rhetorical question was heard:

"Looks that way, don't it?"

"Sonic…" Tails, Amy and Cream said together in relief.

There was a crack in the building where Sonic had struck it. His quills were bent and disheveled as he stared at the ground, on his hands and knees, but it was because of those protective spikes that the attack hadn't killed him.

The Tornado's occupants watched on as the dust finally diffused enough for them to see the blue blur, rising to his feet quite a bit slower than usual, but doing so nonetheless. He dusted himself off with one hand; the other was hanging limply at his side. It was clear to Tails that his arm was, at best, dislocated. At worst, broken.

He reached up and clutched it as if the pain was just now registering.

Cream gasped suddenly. "Sonic-san, _move!_" she cried, and Sonic did, despite everything, knowing exactly what he'd encounter if he didn't. The fist barely missed him; they saw the wind whip his quills.

"Thanks Cream, I—"

"_SONIC!_"

The hedgehog dodged again, this time at Tails's cry. "Dear Chaos, Eggman. Chill out!"

"Sorry, Sonic," Tails said. "We're distracting you…"

Sonic jumped and Tails swerved as E-99 came after all of them at once. "This is why you should get out of here!" Sonic said, as a response to both Tails's words and the robot's persistent attacks. He winced in pain from one of his quickly increasing injuries, likely the arm, Tails thought. But he was running slower than usual too, and he looked like he could collapse…

"We'll figure something out, Sonic!" Tails promised, beginning to depart. "Hang in there!"

"Been there, done that, got the t-shirt," Sonic muttered to himself as the Tornado flew out of sight. He turned around to head back towards the Egg Emperor, holding his shoulder to keep his own movements from jarring it too much.

It was near the water again, its heavy form pressing footprints into the blacktop. Sonic approached as closely as he could… and fell to his knees.

"Eggman…!" he said in a hoarse growl. "It has… just begun. Agh…" he cut off, closing his eyes momentarily. "Release… release Chris. I want to be able to fight you properly."

Xxx

"I can't stop it," Eggman said confidentially to his two robots. "E-99 has gone berserk with the Chaos Emeralds' power!"

"Sonic is wounded all over," Decoe said.

"He fell just now," Bocoe said in case the others had somehow missed this new development. "It's just unlike him."

Eggman spoke over the loudspeaker, genuine concern in his voice now: "Sonic, just surrender! This robot is…"

"Bring it on."

"Don't say such things now! I cannot stop E-99; he is too chaotic!" Even as the doctor spoke, the enormous robot began to tremble with power. The Chaos Emeralds glowed intensely. "E-99, we have our defeat—!"

"I am _not _defeated!"

"—Just call it a day already!"

Then, in a snap between seconds, they were gone from existence again as the monstrosity teleported.

Xxx

Powered up by the Chaos Emeralds, E-99 was too fast for even Sonic as it appeared directly above him, swinging a heavy fist downward at full force. Instinctively, Sonic leapt away from it, and in the process fell into the trajectory of its other hand, which slammed him unceremoniously to the ground.

Unable to drag himself out of the way in time, Sonic could only watch as that hand lifted up and came back down towards him.

Ribs were cracked. Blood was spilled. But only the first few blows were painful. Beyond that, his world began to narrow at the edges, darkening… darkening as E-99 pummeled him into the cement.

Again… and again… and again.

Xxx

From the edge of the helicopter, Knuckles watched the hopeless battle with a stoic expression, able to do little else but stare.

_Damn it… this is my fault… My ancestors would be ashamed._

He could have gone down to fight, but at the sight of so many military machines being torn apart and Sonic being beaten to what was surely his death, he saw no reason to hurry anymore. He had arrived far too late.

Back when they had all been teleported to this bizarre world by Chaos Control, Knuckles had felt he was being forced to suffer for Sonic's thoughtless actions. Now it was the other way around he realized, and he couldn't even pretend to think the hedgehog deserved it.

When E-99 peeled the blue blur off the ground, lifting him up between a finger and a thumb, Knuckles' heart plunged into his stomach.

He had not always been fond of Sonic. Had not always seen eye-to-eye with him. But he had respected him, valued him as a friend.

And Sonic was not supposed to look that way. His hands were open at his sides. His head and ears hung limply forward. The quills nearest the sides of his head hung in his face. Those emerald eyes were closed… like he hadn't wanted to see the ending blow come for him.

"Damn it!" Knuckles cursed aloud now, squeezing the railing so hard it crunched in his grip. "Things could have been so different."

Xxx

"S-Sonic…" Chris breathed, tears cascading down his face as E-99 lifted the hedgehog up. Chris could see him clearly now, not on a mere screen anymore but through the control room's semi-circular window.

Then Sonic was gone from the robot's suddenly open hand, falling towards the blue abyss below.

"_NOOOO!_"

With his eyes squeezed shut and his fists clenched, Chris pulled against the restraints in a burst of angry adrenaline. The metal shifted. The wall cracked behind him. And then, as if it had not even been a challenge, it gave way and he hit the ground running… running towards the Chaos Emeralds.

For the first time in his life, he didn't care about the consequences. He didn't care what happened to E-99 or Eggman or himself. He pulled all six Chaos Emeralds free of the panel, terminating their connection with the robot. Their residual energy sent him flying at the front window, where he hit with a loud thud and fell to the floor. He never abandoned his grip on the six gems.

"You idiot!" Eggman exclaimed.

Fat teardrops trailed their way down the boy's face as he clutched the Emeralds desperately, encasing them with his body. "You're not taking anything else away from me, Eggman… ever…"

The doctor sighed. "You're a fool, behaving so recklessly."

"And you're any better," Chris sobbed, "after everything you've caused today?"

He never heard Eggman's response, because the glass shattered and suddenly Knuckles was in their midst, facing Eggman, fists clenched. Chris couldn't tell if the echidna had seen him or not, so focused was he on the madman at the other side of the room. "If this is all I can do now to right my wrongs…" he said quietly, "so be it."

Then someone snatched Chris from behind, unbeknownst to guardian and scientist alike until the former turned and saw the empty panel.

"Chris…" he said too quietly, wondering if the kid had regained possession of the gems. "Eggman. Where is Chris. Where _is he!_"

"Ask _him!_"

"What have you done with him? I will free him. It is partially because of me that he was held hostage… but you will be held accountable for your actions!"

Decoe turned to Eggman and said matter-of-factly, "He's mad."

Xxx

"Rouge… you freed me…?" Chris asked weakly, still overwhelmed by his exposure to the Chaos Emeralds, barely opening his eyes.

"Indeed," the white bat said in a silky-smooth voice as she flew them both over the water, back towards the shore. "Knuckles already broke the glass, so all I had to do was slip on in." She smiled coolly. "And these Chaos Emeralds… I suppose it's okay for me to take them, now that this is over?"

Ignoring her words, Chris thrashed against her and, unexpectedly, broke free. He fell towards the ocean, and the six Chaos Emeralds went plunging with him.

"So impatient!" Rouge hissed, bolting down after him. The Chaos Emeralds would survive a fall in the water; she wasn't as sure about this boy. He was easy enough to catch up to in his descent, with her superior flight skills. But by the time she had secured him in her grasp again, the gems were nowhere to be seen. "My goodness… Oh, what's the point of them anyway?" She glanced back at the human she had in tow, giving him a what-can-you-do smile.

"Let me go…" Chris demanded somewhat deliriously. "I've gotta swim after Sonic…"

"What's this, now? I don't think so, kid. I just sacrificed all those beautiful gems to save your life; you're not going anywhere. Agh, _stop _it…"

Chris was just about to succeed in breaking her grasp a second time when something much bigger and stronger took hold of them both.

The boy tried to scream, but E-99's hand squeezed the air from his lungs in its excruciating grip.

Xxx

Despite straddling the line between consciousness and unconsciousness – and just barely managing to keep the former as every second went by – Sonic had managed to draw breath into his lungs and hold it as he went under the water.

He was not only alive… but somehow, awake.

_Shoulda checked for a pulse, E-99._

He opened his eyes, looked into the dark blue nothingness that he knew had been surrounding him. There was light coming from one general direction; the sun was just bright enough to penetrate to the depth he was at, letting him know which way was up.

He readied himself mentally, and then cautiously, gently tried to ease himself upward through the water. His muscles and bones screamed in agony even though he had barely twitched. Everything hurt. No part of his body had been left unharmed.

_Tails, Amy, someone… please help me…_

But somewhere inside Sonic knew they wouldn't be able to find him down here. He determined that if this was how it was going to end, he would pass out from oxygen loss before trying to breathe. He didn't want to know what it was like to drown. And he had to hold on as long as he could, just in case… just in case…

_What? Just in case… what? I don't know what to do. But I can't give up, right?_

The water above grew a little brighter, a little more reflective. Perhaps a cloud had just disappeared and exposed the sun fully.

Sonic was trembling. The water was cold, and he was scared. Every slight vibration sent ripples of pain throughout his body, as if his nerve endings had been set ablaze. His lungs ached with the need to breathe… his injured ribs throbbed from the outward pressure of the air he was holding in… Just a tiny bit of that oxygen escaped now in the form of a tormented groan…

He closed his eyes.

_Okay… uh… let's see here… am I sinking or floating? I've stopped falling from when the robot dropped me, and I've got air in my lungs so I should be floating. If I can… if I can just hang on a little longer, maybe I can make it to the surface…_

Common sense told him that the surface was much too far away. But Sonic the hedgehog had never gotten far by obeying the guidelines of common sense.

So he braced himself, gritted his teeth, and kicked down with his legs to give himself the best boost upward he could, despite the pain, despite his swimming abilities or lack thereof… He had to try.

If he hadn't been clenching his teeth together hard enough to make his gums sting, he would have screamed.

_Chaos…! Ow, ow, ow, ow, and OW! As if knowing how to swim would even help at this point!_

The water began to shine around him as he ascended upward through it, slowly drifting towards that bright sky… but the sun wasn't the only thing responsible for the increasing vibrancy. Something snagged his gaze and he turned his head very gently.

_No way… Chris, did you do this?_

It was a Chaos Emerald, glimmering casually and leaving a trail of bubbles in its wake as it continued its downward journey past him. He felt Lucky's Chaos Emerald in his back quills heat up at the close proximity… and then a third gem landed softly on his head, bouncing off and turning over itself as it too continued to fall. The heat in his white Emerald spiked once again and he let it happen, let it link itself to all six of the remaining Chaos Emeralds as they tumbled by in the teal liquid…

And then, ever so gingerly, he reached back with the better of his two hands and pulled out the glowing white gem and gave it an easy upward push.

All seven Chaos Emeralds floated up with it, as if they had been pushed directly too, even though they hadn't. Sonic closed his eyes again but opened his mind to the Emeralds' sacred power, not knowing what it would be like but figuring almost anything would be better than the alternative… for him and for everyone.

The energy flooded him without delay, intense and energizing. Everything that had ached seconds ago tingled tenderly now with the gems' healing energy. Something awakened deep within him; a conviction that had already been there, but was now being strengthened because the Chaos Emeralds functioned on emotion.

He wanted to save the world.

He wanted to ensure his friends' safety.

He wanted to _win _this fight… for them, and for himself.

As if responding to his thoughts, the seven miracle gems became to rotate in the water above him. They became faster and faster until he could no longer make out their individual features; they were a circular blur of lines and colors, forming a whirlpool in the water. It grew larger and larger as he continued to absorb their energy, exposing himself completely to it, letting it fill him… His fur turned a shimmering shade of gold, his quills turned upwards as if gravity had reversed itself, and a vibrant, wispy aura formed around him… he could almost perceive its softness – like grains of fine, warm sand – as he swished his hand around in it experimentally.

A surface of light formed around him as he ascended through the whirlpool, the water's strength unable to sway him from his steady upward path.

Then he exploded out of the water at the speed of sound, white waves reaching up all around to touch the skies with him, and the sun had never seemed so bright.

His enhanced hearing picked up on many sounds, the first of them being excited cheers from Tails, Amy and Cream, and perhaps a few other random citizens as well. There was Knuckles, too, raging at Eggman in E-99's control room about how he never should have handed over the Chaos Emeralds – _I should have known it was you, Knucklehead –_ and the low humming emitting from the robot, and the rush of the waves below… He filtered through the noises and then made out Chris moaning in discomfort; something was hurting him.

Wanting the threat gone immediately, Sonic opened his eyes to find out what.

E-99's arm _exploded_. Chris and Rouge seemed to hover comically in the air for a moment before the bat realized what had happened and caught the younger boy, flying them both to safety.

Sonic blinked absentmindedly, then flinched, worried that something else might blow up as a result. It didn't, thankfully, but he realized now that this power was something he had to maintain conscious control over. That was why E-99 had gone crazy; it was a robot and _had _no conscience, so the Chaos Emeralds had reacted rather… chaotically.

The monstrous robot raised an arm to attack now, the residual Chaos energy not yet gone from its system. Sonic remained where he was, smiling calmly, knowing it could no longer harm him… and stopped its downward attack with one hand.

"Knuckles," he said quietly, but the energy with which he was infused seemed to carry his voice on the wind to its destination. "Can you hear me? I'm going to destroy this fella and try to cause Chaos Control. Get yourself uninvolved."

He waited a beat, then bolted upwards through the robot's arm, through its body, through the control room that Knuckles had just abandoned… tearing the thing apart at the speed of sound.

It exploded violently, pieces of shrapnel shooting out all over the place, some set ablaze. Chunks hit Sonic at full force but bounced off his energized body like they were made of rubber. He hoped Tails, Amy, Knuckles and everyone else from his home world was near enough to be teleported by the rapidly expanding white glow that was Chaos Control. It was the only opportunity they had to return home, and if they waited until his Super form drained the Chaos Emeralds, there wouldn't be enough energy left.

Sonic opened his eyes – not realizing he had closed them in the midst of the overwhelming brightness – and saw Knuckles off to his right.

"Is this… Chaos Control?" the echidna asked.

"Yes," Sonic said. "Though I don't remember it taking this long the first time. I hope everything is going right."

Knuckles walked closer, examining the hedgehog's powerful form and the golden aura surrounding him. "You shouldn't even be alive," he nearly whispered, shaking his head.

Sonic scratched his nose. "Good to see you too, pal."

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it," Knuckles said, albeit somewhat awkwardly. "I saw you that robot attack you earlier. I… I saw him drop you in the water."

The hedgehog shrugged. "Y' know, that's one of the things I _don't _do fast is get defeated."

"Yeah, well."

"This is kinda sweet, innit?" Sonic said, looking down at himself momentarily. Then, suddenly remembering something, he met Knuckles's eyes. "Hey… listen Knux. I wanted to say that I'm sorry if I did anything that separated you from your duty thing. You know, when I ran into Eggman's base all those months ago, I was just trying to stop him. I didn't even know about Chaos Control."

Knuckles held his gaze, then finally said, "I'm sorry too. Really, I am. I wanted to convince myself we could get back quicker if all the Emeralds were in one person's hands, so I trusted Eggman… again." He looked around, not keen on staying on the subject longer than he had to now that he had said his say. "Hey Sonic, does it concern you that we're still surrounded by a white glow? You don't suppose the Chaos Emeralds were already too drained to bring us back, do you?"

"I couldn't tell you that, but…" Something caught Sonic's eye and he paused, glancing over at it. It was slowly appearing, coming into focus as he watched it… Heart lifting as he realized what it was, Sonic drifted forward through the air, putting a hand on Knuckles's back to direct him that way as well. They approached Angel Island hovering in the white before them. "But I think a piece of our world came here."

Knuckles watched the island rise higher and higher, setting itself in its position in the sky, though they couldn't see said sky again yet. The echidna wasn't smiling, but Sonic knew he was happy.

"We can figure out the rest later. For now…"

"Right," Knuckles said, turning back to the hedgehog. "Hey, I think Chris might have gotten hurt in all that. You should go heal him while you're still in that form. But one last thing," the guardian said quickly before the chance was gone. "…How'd you do it?" he asked, not sure if he was referring to Sonic's survival of E-99's attack, his transformation with the Chaos Emeralds, the return of Angel Island, or all three.

"No clue," Sonic said cheerfully, and shot off like a bolt of lightning.

Xxx

Chris was lying face-up on smooth ground, looking up into an endless abyss of white. He felt mentally numb. For a long moment, he wondered if he had died somehow, and if this was supposed to be some kind of…

"Chris… Chris?"

At the sound of that familiar voice, he flinched, attempting to sit up but to no avail. Pain shot through his nerves; his unlearned exposure to the Chaos Emeralds in addition to being squeezed in E-99's hand had left him aching something else. "S-Sonic?" he whispered.

Then the hedgehog came into his field of vision, somehow glowing brighter than the intense whiteness that the world had suddenly become. He leaned down towards Chris and put a hand on his chest. A green glow emitted from it, and suddenly the pain was gone. He blinked, not sure what to do or say for a moment, then got up and threw his arms around the not-so-blue blur. "Sonic… don't leave…" he begged quietly, trying not to shed any tears in front of his friend but coming very close to failing. "Please, don't leave me."

Sonic hugged the boy tenderly, eyes closed. Chris could feel the warm energy of the Chaos Emeralds on his skin and fur, and realized Sonic had used them after he had caused them to fall into the water.

"Thank you, Chris," he whispered, as if perceiving his thoughts. He backed away and held the boy's gaze. "You saved me."

"Sonic…" The two pairs of eyes never broke off from each other, and now Chris sought understanding from his friend, a desperate tear finally escaping down his face; "Take me with you…"

But before he could utter another word, his best friend and hero had dissipated from sight, leaving only the white infinity.

Unable to tolerate the thought of Sonic being gone forever, Chris cried out in agony.

Xxx

Sonic reappeared in a forest just outside the city. He felt gravity tug on his quills again, and the heat left his fur as if it had fallen right off. The shining aura around him faded. "Heh, sorry to scare you, Chris," he muttered to himself before running off to relocate his friend. Chaos Control had caused them to separate momentarily.

He realized that the only reason the white glow had not faded quickly was because he had initiated Chaos Control without terminating it. Since Angel Island was entirely in this world now, he figured it was best to abandon his energized form and let the leftover power back into the Emeralds so that Chaos Control could end.

They would figure out how to return to their own world later. He didn't mind anyway; he had explored his own world plenty of times over, but there was still a lot to see in this one.

He found Chris on his hands and knees on the ground, looking tired and miserable, but okay – just as he had left him only minutes ago. The human gasped at the sound of Sonic's approaching footsteps and looked up. The blue blur put a hand on his hip and grinned at his friend's flabbergasted expression.

"Hey pal," he said with a chuckle. "Best regards… again."

Xxx

Wow, I had a lot of fun with this one. Typed most of it in a single night! Hope nobody minded the few (okay, several) scenes I added. The only one I actually planned was the one that gave Sonic's perspective when he transformed under the water, but I thought the story kinda demanded that. The others just kind of fit themselves right in there as I was typing, like Tails and Amy trying to help Sonic, and Sonic and Knuckles apologizing to each other during Chaos Control. Anyway, hope you liked, and please review! For those of you waiting on the next chapter of Survivor's Resolve, it'll be up tomorrow (and for those of you who aren't, feel free to go check it out for more Sonic)! :)

Have a good one, all; sayonara for now.


End file.
